Press release on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s meeting with UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura

On March 29, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, who is currently in Moscow on a working visit, at the Foreign Ministry.

The officials exchanged opinions on the entire range of matters of the Syrian peace settlement and focused on further vigorous efforts to implement the results of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi.

They confirmed that there was great need for the highly efficient Astana format established 12 months ago by Russia, Iran and Turkey, which has become a key mechanism of further normalising the situation in Syria and facilitating a political and diplomatic settlement in that country on a solid foundation of international law.

The sides discussed the counterterrorism operation in Eastern Ghouta. Supported by the Russian Aerospace Forces and acting under UN Security Council Resolution 2401, the Syrian Army has almost completely expelled terrorists from that densely populated Damascus suburb and to reinstate peaceful life virtually on its entire territory. In this context, Mr Lavrov and Mr de Mistura underscored the international community’s task of providing urgent humanitarian aid to local civilians, suffering from the tyranny of the terrorists.